The watchdog is launching the probe under consumer protection law after receiving hundreds of complaints that people were not receiving refunds for package holidays cancelled due to the pandemic.

Back in the summer, customers of the holiday firm had refund requests ignored and debit card chargebacks requests disputed.

In some instances, Teletext customers reported that they were promised refunds by a certain date, only to have that date pushed back.

The CMA will now engage with Teletext to gather further evidence on whether the company has broken consumer protection law.

Andrea Coscelli, CEO of the CMA, said: “We understand that the pandemic is presenting challenges for travel businesses, but it is important that the interests of consumers are properly protected and that businesses comply with the law.

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“We’ll be engaging with Teletext to establish whether the law has been broken and will take further action if necessary.”

The announcement follows significant action by the CMA in relation to holiday cancellations. The CMA has written to more than 100 package holiday firms to remind them of their obligations to comply with consumer protection law.

It has secured refund commitments from a number of holiday firms, including Love Holidays, Lastminute.com, Virgin Holidays, TUI UK, Sykes Cottages and Vacation Rentals.

The CMA is also investigating whether airlines have breached consumers’ legal rights by failing to offer cash refunds for flights they could not lawfully take due to the pandemic.